Women Take a Left Up Court

Bringing the ball upcourt this season, the Crimson women will be coming from the left side. The unusual tactic is not a new twist that Carole Kleinfelder has designed for her offense, it is merely a reflection of the abundance of left-handed guards that will quarterback the women's offense.

One or two left-handers are not that unusual to find on any team, but this year's women's team has four leftics and a fifth player who is right-handed but prefers the left side. Whereas most teams design their offenses to go right, most players' naturally strong side. Harvard will often flip over the other way.

Newcomers Gia Johnson, Sue Field, and Tamar Atine are Harvard's top backcourt women, and all are left-handed. "It often takes a while for other teams to realize we are left-handed, and that should give us a step on them since they will be overplaying us to the right and we will naturally go left," said Atine. "They won't expect it."

Caryn Curry, the star forward who will start the season at the guard slot, also prefers the left side, though she shoots with her right hand. "Teams aren't used to an offense that will go left. Hopefully they won't adjust till it's too late." she said.

When Curry moves to the forward slot, she will add another dimension to the Harvard attack: the presence of a forward who can drive the left baseline while protecting the ball. But left-handed center Sue Aboucher sees the team gaining an even greater advantage defensively.

"When I'm facing the other team and they naturally go right, they'll be driving right into my strong side," the freshman from Southern California said.

But for all the advantages of the Crimson novelty, Kleinfelder said there is a drawback in that the team has to adjust to itself. "In asking for a pass, a player is used to having it come from the right side; but with all the lefties, the passes will be thrown from the other side," she said. This difficulty will be especially evident when the women throw around a defender because the pass will come around the left side of the opponent rather than the right side.

But the abundance of lefties gives the women more options, and should work as an asset, rather than a hindrance.